First of all, it takes place on the Detweiller State Meet course. So that means we're going to get times that we can compare against a huge amount of historical data. Second, we've got 63 boys teams competing, including many of the top 25 teams in 3A, 2A and 1A in the State of Illinois, so we know we are going up against some strong competition. And finally, with the First to the Finish meet running the week before on the same course, most everyone in the state will now have shown where they stand at this point in the season.
On the bus trip down from Orland Park to Peoria on Saturday morning, there was a quiet confidence around the Varsity squad. Most of these guys have run Detweiller numerous times, including many coming back from the 2013 State Meet. After setting up the team camp and passing out the race numbers, it was almost time to get the warmup started.
First up was the Varsity race and our team of 10 Sandburg Eagles toed the starting line with 62 other teams. As the sun came out and heated the humid air, the starter fired the gun to start the race. The boys got out well and at the mile we had a pack of 7 Eagles between 4:45 and 4:49. Into the North Loop and Sean Torpy surged with the lead pack. As they hit the 2 mile mark with their pack near the front, it was clear that if they held their places, this race belonged to the Eagles. At the finish, S. Torpy powered thru in 14:55, good for 8th place overall. He was quickly followed by brother Chris Torpy in 12th place at 15:05. Max Lehnhardt was next up in 15th place in 15:07, then Tom Brennan in 18th in 15:11 and sophomore Martin Skucas as our 5th finisher in 21st place at 15:13. Greg Burzinski was next in in 15:18, good for 27th, Brandon Lukas came thru in 33rd place in 15:23 and David Gleisner made it 8 Eagles in the top 50, placing 49th in 15:37. An 18 second split from 1 to 5 and 28 seconds from 1 to 7!!!
When the scores were tabulated, the Sandburg boys totaled a low 64 points, easily outdistancing the second place Mahomet-Seymour squad (192 points). Loyola (207), Hersey (220) and York (234) rounded out the top 5. A great meet for the Eagle varsity boys!
Complete varsity team results and individual results are here.
Complete frosh/soph team results and individual results are here.
In the Open race (which is not scored), Brady Walter pulled away for the win in 16:05. Matt Benz-Weeden ran second in 16:19. Also running sub-17:00 were Paul Sieczkowski in 16:38, Anthony Lifonti in 16:50 and Brian McMahon in 16:55.
Following a great team picnic at the park (thanks parents!!), the team climbed back on the bus for the long, but satisfying ride back home.